imperfect

Peter &/or Graham petegray at btinternet.com
Mon Apr 19 20:12:47 UTC 1999


Miguerl said:
>>imperfect and aorist in Vedic.

>Anadyatana ("not of today") and adyatana ("of today") in Panini's
>terms.  Panini *does* distinguish between the two.

Panini does.   Vedic does not.  Or more accurately, the texts do not really
support the traditional meanings ascribed to the tenses.   The aorist is
strictly separate from the imperfect and perfect in the Brahmanas, but not
regularly in the earlier vedas.  A difference can sometimes be seen, but it
is not as clear-cut, nor as consistent, as some traditional grammars say.

My objection is that Sanskrit evidence is used to project aspect differences
back into PIE, when in fact the evidence does not support the argument.

Peter



More information about the Indo-european mailing list